Abstract:

The Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) [ADA] requires that some disabilities be accommodated to provide equal opportunity for workers with disabilities. However, if accommodations are seen as unfair, coworkers may refuse to cooperate with the accommodation recipient or may cause other problematic outcomes for that person or the organization, thereby jeopardizing the goals of the ADA. A study was conducted to determine how perceptions of unfairness were related to type of accommodation, disability, and possible task outcomes in a competitive task situation. The study results indicated that there were perceptions of unfairness when persons with disabilities were accommodated, particularly when the accommodation was viewed as reducing the inputs of the persons receiving it and when the accommodated person subsequently 'won' the task. As expected, the interaction between receiving a useful accommodation and having the accommodated person subsequently 'win' was also significant in producing even greater perceptions of unfairness. These findings suggest that workplace tension or conflict may arise when the ADA is used to accommodate workers with disabilities.

Keywords: AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA); DISABILITY; ACCOMMODATION; FAIRNESS

Document Type: Research article